Rotherham 3 West Brom 1 - Report

A poorest display under Carlos Corberan to date, on the head coach's 40th birthday, saw the Baggies out-fought and out-thought in front of more than 2,000 travelling Baggies as former loan striker Jordan Hugill played villain of the piece.

The away end aired a late rendition of "you're not fit to wear the shirt" having seen their side battered 3-1 by the battling Millers, when a more accurate reflection would've been five, six or seven home goals.

Home skipper Hugill, who endured a torrid Hawthorns loan last season, initially conceded a penalty but scored twice and could've had four more. Tariqe Fosu netted the deserved hosts' third.

Rotherham wanted it more when Albion could seldom do with any more slip-ups. Now six points behind the top six before the end of today's action elsewhere, the performance compounded off-field despair with so much financially riding on promotion.

More miserable woe on the road hit Albion away from The Hawthorns with a seventh (six in the league) winless clash on their travels - and a sixth defeat in that spell. A brittle mindset and soft underbelly away from the Black Country came to the fore once more.

Corberan acknowledged the importance of no further slip-ups by naming striker pair Daryl Dike and Brandon Thomas-Asante together as a partnership for the first time.

Albion switched from their usual 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2 to accommodate the frontmen.

There were more changes in the Baggies side and notably in midfield, where the visitors were without the influential Okay Yokuslu, who injured his ankle late on against Millwall and joins midfield colleague Jayson Molumby in the treatment room. Corberan is optimistic Yokuslu could return at home on Monday.

It handed an opportunity for Taylor Gardner-Hickman to make a rare Championship start in his natural midfield role alongside Nathaniel Chalobah in an unfamiliar looking Albion line-up.

Albion welcomed back Alex Palmer to the bench as Josh Griffith kept his place in goal. Adam Reach and Jake Livermore were missing from the 18, with academy duo Jamie Andrews and Jovan Malcolm on the bench.

The two-hour advanced kick-off did little to deter travelling Baggies, who again came 2,000-strong and made themselves heard throughout.

The travelling contingent almost had a very early opener down the other end to celebrate as Dike peeled away to the right side of the box and lashed a bouncing ball goalward. Viktor Johansson had to be alert to parry behind.

But shortly afterwards Albion looked bang in trouble and should have been behind as Hugill was involved - and not for the last time.

Albion, as was a first half theme, couldn't clear at the back and invited pressure. The ball bobbled around and dropped to the striker, whose effort unmarked from six yards was off target and frankly awful.

He took dog's abuse from the away end and would remind the Baggies of that later.

Albion had one or two moments, notably from Jed Wallace deliveries from the right, but on at least two occasions neither visiting striker committed and managed to connect.

Matt Taylor's hosts were wasteful. Left-back Leo Hjelde's rocket from distance stung Josh Griffiths' midriff but Tariqe Fosu could only steer over a poor effort on the rebound.

The Millers lost centre-back Bailey Wright to injury but it was Albion's backline rocking. Griffiths spared Semi Ajayi blushes at his former club as the defender's air-kick allowed Lindsay in, but Griffiths was alive to save.

Fosu was once again wasteful from the resulting corner after more pinball.

But a Baggies breakthrough came just after half hour. Gardner-Hickman found stand-in captain Conor Townsend with a fine pass. He beat two defenders into the box and was clearly clipped late by Hugill for a spot-kick.

John Swift's effort found the right corner despite Johansson's best efforts.

But patterns continued as Shane Ferguson got in beyond Albion's backline far too easily. Griffiths raced out to make a big save.

But there was nothing the busy young keeper could do about that man Hugill hitting back.

The striker climbed amid a packed penalty box to head low beyond Griffiths from a corner. He duly gave the away end some stick in return.

And Hugill, Valerian Ismael's loan signing, thought he had a second before the break but Townsend cleared his header on to the crossbar and away. It was understood to be 33mm away from crossing the line. Reported Albion target Chiedozie Ogbene then sent wide for good measure.

Corberan surprisingly decided against half-time changes. Albion, though, had no reaction and were behind minutes later.

It was all about Hugill as he climbed to meet Ferguson's free-kick and head into the bottom corner.

Albion had to act and Corberan introduced Kyle Bartley, Tom Rogic and Marc Albrighton. The visitors saw more of the ball for a short period but did nothing with it as a feeling of dread descended on the situation.

Hugill and his team-mates toyed with Albion and the contest, along with almost-certainly Albion's season, was over as Fosu lifted a third into the roof of the net 14 minutes from time. All that was left were boos from those left in the away end to greet sheepish green and yellow shirts at full-time.

Teams

Rotherham (4-3-3): Johansson; Harding, Wright (Blackett, 25), Humphreys, Hjelde; Coventry, Fosu, Lindsay (Odoffin, 87); Ogbene, Ferguson (Rathbone, 65), Hugill (c).

Subs not used: Vickers, Bramall, Eaves, Kelly.

Albion (4-4-2): Griffiths; Furlong (Albrighton, 58), Ajayi (Bartley, 58), Pieters, Townsend (c); Wallace, Chalobah, Gardner-Hickman, Swift (Rogic, 58); Dike, Thomas-Asante (Grant, 74).

Subs not used: Palmer, Andrews, Malcolm.

Attendance: 11,098 (2,191 Albion fans)